Monday, February 7, 2011

black in action

last week, as i was narrowing in on a grey for the sunroom, i read this.

now, i don't think i'm some design genius. i've never been able to style a nightstand. i've made some serious lamp mistakes. but i definitely don't want someone walking into my house and hearing that awful "divine design" theme song in their head.

owning a house you don't intend to stay in long term is a style minefield. it's especially challenging in this house because it's already the most expensive house on the block. i want our house to be streamlined and modern but i also want to be able to sell it. resultantly, i've been pretty cautious about making changes that might be off-putting to buyers.

so i was going to paint the sunroom grey, which would have been a lovely, if obvious, choice. but that would have been a wuss move. most of the rooms in my house are white or grey. we're probably already at the point where people are going to complain that the house feels cold. someone will probably buy this house and repaint the dining room beige with a red accent wall. plus, i saw this house tour that was so awesome it inspired me to do something a little weird.

i painted the sunroom black.

it's benjamin moore black beauty. it may have been a stupid decision, since it's a sunroom and it already gets really freaking hot in there. but it's the brightest room in the house and i knew i could paint it black without it feeling like a mortuary. and i had already bought the white paint for the balcony and trim (not done, by the way, in case you were wondering why the windows looked so crappy), so much of the room will still be white. and i'm going to do the paneled wall upstairs light grey so that it doesn't feel like it's falling on top of you.